Inequality Worse Than You Think

Posted by | April 5, 2015 09:00 | Filed under: Contributors Economy Politics Stuart Shapiro Top Stories

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Nobody wants inequality, but people significantly underestimate how much inequality there really is.  This piece by Nicholas Fitz talks about three studies on the perception of inequality in the US.

The average American believes that the richest fifth own 59% of the wealth and that the bottom 40% own 9%. The reality is strikingly different. The top 20% of US households own more than 84% of the wealth, and the bottom 40% combine for a paltry 0.3%. The Walton family, for example, has more wealth than 42% of American families combined.

We don’t want to live like this. In our ideal distribution, the top quintile owns 32% and the bottom two quintiles own 25%. As the journalist Chrystia Freeland put it,  “Americans actually live in Russia, although they think they live in Sweden. And they would like to live on a kibbutz.” Norton and Ariely found a surprising level of consensus: everyone — even Republicans and the wealthy—wants a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo.

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.

16 responses to Inequality Worse Than You Think

  1. mea_mark April 5th, 2015 at 09:24

    And just to be clear, inequality is continuing to get worse. Solution, tax the rich more or revolution.

    • Suzanne McFly April 5th, 2015 at 09:53

      Hmmmm, tax the rich more or revolution? Are you forcing the gop to reconsider their 2a policies?

      • mea_mark April 5th, 2015 at 10:01

        They have been making arms more available to Americans, all Americans. Arming the poor may have unintended consequences with increasing inequality and desperation.

        • Suzanne McFly April 5th, 2015 at 10:20

          Won’t that be a bi%@h.

        • oldfart April 5th, 2015 at 11:18

          who’s they ? and how does the poor afford the price of guns and ammunition ?
          i fully agree that inequality will get worse because after all, the goal of capitalism is the one with the most money wins. our government will not pass tax increases when they have been paid off to not raise them by the wealthy.
          history has clearly showed what happens when inequality becomes unbearable. the one with the most weapons wins.
          revolution would be very messy.

          • mea_mark April 5th, 2015 at 11:40

            They = GOP
            Poor get guns by stealing or trading for them. Basically the more guns out there the easier they are to get your hands on one.

            • oldfart April 5th, 2015 at 12:34

              ok, was puzzled by who you were referring to.
              arming people who could ultimately turn them on those who supplied them, because they oppressed them.
              truly poetic justice. thank you for the clarification.

              • Dwendt44 April 5th, 2015 at 13:41

                Those that do this aren’t thinking that far ahead. Near term profits rule the roost it seems.
                If I’m not mistake, we already are past the stage where many economic revolutions started.

                • oldfart April 5th, 2015 at 16:25

                  its that damned constitutional democracy thing thats in their way.
                  when people here believe that they have nothing and nothing left to lose, it’s time to get the hell out of dodge.

    • Apocalypse April 5th, 2015 at 13:33

      We need a political/social revolution, not a violent one.

      • mea_mark April 5th, 2015 at 13:39

        We do, but will it happen? The rich don’t seem to want to give up being incredibly rich.

        • Dwendt44 April 5th, 2015 at 13:43

          Well ya. The never ending greed is the problem. Rich isn’t good enough, filthy rich is better, and stinging filthy rich is better still.

        • Apocalypse April 5th, 2015 at 14:04

          We can try to make it happen politically.

          Warrren/Sanders in 2016. Elect politicians who prioritize the reduction of income inequality and state that they would raise taxes on the rich and corporations.

          Demand Citizens’s United be overturned and new legislation restricting money in politics.

  2. Apocalypse April 5th, 2015 at 13:23

    Until Citizen’s United is overturned and political contributions are restricted the income gap will continue to grow.

  3. fancypants April 5th, 2015 at 14:28

    Did somebody say Walmart ?

    https://youtu.be/Fwi2e4ByJbs

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